MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Sports can bring people together.
Here in Memphis, Basketball unites many of us, despite racial and religious ideas.
“You can look at our churches, you can look at our grocery stores, you can look at our events when we have them, they’re segregated. If you look around the span of our gym it’s not segregated, it’s integrated,” said Anthony Boyce-Canada.
Now, multiple local sports leaders are trying to make sure that unity continues by opening The House of We, a new gym for basketball players of all ages.
“A lot of kids in Memphis, basketball is their favorite thing to do. It was mine, I loved playing basketball. Looking back at that group, some of which didn’t get meals every day, but they loved the game of basketball and they loved each other,” said Doug Gilland.
Gilland, the owner of the sports plex, reflected on how basketball helped him create life-long friendships.
Some, he said, may not have existed had it not been for basketball.
“Doug was a young man that was trained by Frank. Frank and I have been friends for a very long time. Eljen Lee is training Doug’s kid. See it’s already coming full circle, what we’re doing now is bringing the city in a letting it grow like a vine,” said Boyce-Canada.
“We as a collective group come together to move forward together,” said Gilland.
With the help of Memphis trainer Frank Harris and former Memphis Tigers and NBA veteran Cedric Henderson, Boyce-Canada and Gilland, plan to use The House of We as a place that welcomes every kid, no matter their background.
Much like their friendships, they said their hope is to create a place where children can meet new friends, all while taking their game to the next level.
Golden-State Warriors guard Chris Chiozza learned a lesson from the same coaches on his way to the NBA, according to his dad.
“He would go up against Cameron Payne all the time and they had some real battles that were fun to watch. It was a big part of his development and his success,” said Chris Chiozza.
Through mentorship and training, the goal is also to teach Memphis athletes how to be competitive leaders both on and off the court, no matter where they’re from.
“Hopefully through that, we can bring kids from Bartlett, kids from Frayser, kids from Binghampton, South Memphis, Germantown, Collierville, when they all come together it's family in here. The House of We, we win together, we lose together, we grow up together,” said Doug.